NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensing Examination)

USA / Canada · International Council for Veterinary Assessment (ICVA); scored by NBME, delivered by Prometric · licensing

2367practice questions written to this syllabus
65subjects

Format

360 single-best-answer MCQs, all clinical vignettes, about 15-20% with images. From the October-November 2026 window: 12 blocks of 30 items, 33 minutes per block, about 7.5 hours in total. Scaled score 200-800, pass 425, criterion-referenced. No negative marking is stated (unverified). Fee US$825, plus $395 outside the US and Canada.

Sections

Over the years

2024-25: 6 blocks of 60 items, 65 minutes each (60 items unscored pretest); fee $760. From 2025-26: three testing windows a year instead of two. From March 2026: attempt counter reset, everyone gets 5 new attempts. October 2026: 12 x 30 block redesign, same content. AVMA COE requires at least 80% of a school's seniors to pass.

Official source: https://www.icva.net/news-and-updates/navle-structure-update-begins-with-october-november-2026-testing-window/

Subjects this exam draws on

Veterinary Gross Anatomy23 questionsVeterinary Histology, Embryology & Developmental Anatomy9 questionsVeterinary Physiology I: Body Fluids, Blood, Circulation, Respiration and Excretion38 questionsVeterinary Physiology II: Digestion, Muscle, Nerve, Endocrinology, Reproduction, Lactation, Growth and Climate17 questionsVeterinary Biochemistry34 questionsLivestock Production Management I: General Principles and Ruminants16 questionsLivestock Production Management II: Monogastric and Laboratory Animals38 questionsLivestock Production Management III: Species of Regional Interest2 questionsFodder Production & Grassland Management10 questionsAvian and Poultry Production Management24 questionsPrinciples of Animal Nutrition & Feed Technology24 questionsApplied Animal Nutrition I: Ruminants28 questionsApplied Animal Nutrition II: Non-ruminants, Poultry, Laboratory and Companion Animals24 questionsAnimal Behaviour, Ethology & Welfare Science72 questionsLivestock Farm Practices2 questionsGeneral Veterinary Parasitology & Helminthology19 questionsVeterinary Entomology & Acarology30 questionsVeterinary Protozoology37 questionsClinical, Diagnostic & Immuno-Parasitology38 questionsGeneral Veterinary Microbiology41 questionsVeterinary Immunology & Serology30 questionsSystematic Veterinary Bacteriology & Mycology36 questionsSystematic Veterinary Virology40 questionsGeneral Veterinary Pathology30 questionsSystemic Veterinary Pathology15 questionsSpecial Pathology, Necropsy & Clinical Pathology29 questionsAvian Pathology24 questionsAquatic Animal Diseases, Health Care & Management51 questionsGeneral & Systemic Veterinary Pharmacology37 questionsVeterinary Neuropharmacology31 questionsVeterinary Chemotherapy & Antimicrobial Stewardship53 questionsVeterinary Toxicology38 questionsMilk & Meat Hygiene, Food Safety & Public Health19 questionsVeterinary Epidemiology & Zoonoses30 questionsEnvironment & Environmental Hygiene36 questionsLivestock Economics, Marketing & Business Management6 questionsLivestock Entrepreneurship1 questionsGeneral Veterinary Surgery36 questionsVeterinary Anaesthesiology & Analgesia32 questionsDiagnostic Imaging: Radiology and Ultrasonography55 questionsRegional Veterinary Surgery35 questionsVeterinary Orthopaedics & Lameness34 questionsVeterinary Gynaecology & Reproductive Endocrinology26 questionsVeterinary Obstetrics45 questionsVeterinary Andrology & Assisted Reproductive Techniques39 questionsVeterinary Clinical Medicine I: General and Systemic58 questionsVeterinary Clinical Medicine II: Metabolic, Production and Deficiency Diseases69 questionsPreventive Veterinary Medicine I: Bacterial, Fungal, Rickettsial and Mycoplasmal Diseases36 questionsPreventive Veterinary Medicine II: Viral and Parasitic Diseases49 questionsVeterinary Clinical Biochemistry & Laboratory Diagnosis102 questionsAnimal Welfare, Ethics & Veterinary Jurisprudence7 questionsCompanion Animal Practice: Breeding, Management, Nutrition and Health Care101 questionsEquine Medicine, Surgery & Practice87 questionsFood-Animal Production Medicine & Herd Health66 questionsExotic, Pocket Pet, Pet Bird & Reptile Medicine96 questionsLaboratory Animal Science & Medicine10 questionsEmergency & Critical Care, Fluid Therapy and Euthanasia76 questionsVeterinary Clinical Practice (Veterinary Clinical Complex)19 questionsIntegrative and Ethno-Veterinary Medicine12 questionsRegulatory and State Veterinary Medicine & International Trade16 questionsVeterinary Pharmacy, Prescribing Law & Medicines Regulation63 questionsCommunication, Professionalism, Practice Management & Wellbeing94 questionsOne Health, Antimicrobial Resistance & Global Health24 questionsVeterinary Research Methodology & Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine13 questionsRotating Internship & Entrepreneurship Training35 questions

Five practice questions, worked

Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.

1. An adult cow is dehorned close to the skull and the wound opens into an air-filled cavity. Which cavity has been opened?

  1. Frontal sinus
  2. Maxillary sinus
  3. Cranial cavity
  4. Dorsal nasal meatus
Answer and working

A. Frontal sinus

In the adult ox the caudal part of the frontal sinus extends into the horn core (cornual diverticulum), so dehorning opens it and can lead to frontal sinusitis. The maxillary sinus lies in the face below the orbit, and the cranial cavity is protected by the inner table of the frontal bone.

Veterinary Gross Anatomy · Comparative osteology

2. A puppy with severe haemorrhagic diarrhoea dies. Histology of the small intestine shows necrosis of crypt epithelium with collapse and loss of villi. Which virus best fits this pattern?

  1. Canine distemper virus with pure respiratory disease
  2. Canine parvovirus
  3. Canine coronavirus
  4. Rotavirus
Answer and working

B. Canine parvovirus

Parvoviruses replicate only in dividing cells and so destroy the crypt epithelium that renews the villi, giving crypt necrosis followed by villus collapse. Rotaviruses and enteric coronaviruses infect mature enterocytes at the villus tips, causing villus atrophy with preserved, often hyperplastic, crypts.

Veterinary Histology, Embryology & Developmental Anatomy · Systemic histology

3. A male cat with urethral obstruction has a plasma potassium well above the reference interval. What happens to the resting membrane potential of its cardiac muscle cells?

  1. It reverses to a positive value at rest
  2. It becomes more negative (hyperpolarised)
  3. It does not change, because potassium is mainly intracellular
  4. It becomes less negative (depolarised)
Answer and working

D. It becomes less negative (depolarised)

Resting potential lies near the potassium equilibrium potential. Raising outside potassium reduces the out/in gradient, so the potential moves towards zero. Early this raises excitability; later it inactivates sodium channels and slows conduction, giving bradycardia and ECG changes. Hyperpolarisation is what low potassium does.

Veterinary Physiology I: Body Fluids, Blood, Circulation, Respiration and Excretion · Cellular basis of physiology

4. A young adult German Shepherd dog has a ravenous appetite, weight loss and large volumes of pale, fatty faeces. Serum trypsin-like immunoreactivity is very low. Which physiological loss best explains the signs?

  1. Loss of gastric parietal cell acid and intrinsic factor secretion (atrophic gastritis)
  2. Loss of pancreatic acinar enzyme secretion (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency)
  3. Loss of ileal bile acid reabsorption
  4. Loss of colonic water absorption
Answer and working

B. Loss of pancreatic acinar enzyme secretion (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency)

Acinar atrophy removes lipase, proteases and amylase, so fat and protein are maldigested and the dog is hungry and thin. Low trypsin-like immunoreactivity reflects reduced acinar mass. Loss of gastric acid alone does not cause steatorrhoea of this degree, and colonic disease causes diarrhoea without maldigestion.

Veterinary Physiology II: Digestion, Muscle, Nerve, Endocrinology, Reproduction, Lactation, Growth and Climate · Digestion in monogastric animals

5. A dog's arterial blood has bicarbonate 24 mmol/L and pCO2 40 mmHg. Using pH = 6.1 + log10(HCO3- / (0.03 x pCO2)), what is the pH?

  1. 7.10
  2. 7.40
  3. 6.10
  4. 7.70
Answer and working

B. 7.40

0.03 x 40 = 1.2 mmol/L dissolved CO2; 24/1.2 = 20; log10(20) = 1.30; pH = 6.1 + 1.30 = 7.40. 7.10 would come from a ratio of 10; 6.10 ignores the ratio; 7.70 would need a ratio of 40.

Veterinary Biochemistry · Biomolecules and their interactions

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